Request deposit from proposal

You can request a deposit from the proposal to collect partial payment upfront. It helps when you need to secure commitment before starting projects, cover upfront costs, or reduce financial risk with new clients.

Deposits, explained

Deposits are prepayments that are required to sign a proposal. After the client pays a deposit, it is added to their credit balance—but it’s not issued as a separate document or invoice. The deposit funds are shown on the client’s credit balance and can be used to pay future invoices .

You can ask for a deposit when you don’t know the final scope to secure the engagement, for:

• Initial consultations where the full project scope emerges during discovery
• Complex projects that require detailed analysis before final pricing
• Seasonal services where pricing varies based on actual work completed

Even if the scope of work is predictable, you can request a deposit while creating the complete invoice for the entire engagement. This is ideal for:

• Standard services for new clients
• Multi-phase projects where you want to bill the full amount but collect payment in stages
• Engagements where you need to cover upfront costs before starting work

Set up deposits

Setting up deposits is possible either when you are working on the proposals template or preparing a proposal for your client.

Adjust your payment settings and turn on accepting deposits before working on the proposal itself on. This can be done only by a firm owner or admin .

Step 1. Payment settings

Go to Settings > Integrations and make sure that payment provider (either Stripe or TaxDome Payments is connected.

Step 2. Turn on prepayment

1. In Prepayment & deposit section, turn on the Accept prepayment & deposit toggle.

2. Check the available prepayment methods and turn on the ones you want to use.

Step 3. Add deposit request to proposal

You can set up a deposit request while creating the proposal or proposal template. To do this:

1. Go to the Services step of your proposal or template.

2. Select either Tiered packages or List services.

3. In the Payment section:

   • For Deposit requirement: select Yes – collect deposit.
   • For Issue invoice for balance: select No – don’t issue invoice.

4. Add services as line items.
5. At the bottom of the page, select the deposit type and enter its amount.

6. Continue setting up your proposal. For more details, see how to create proposals .

How deposit applies to invoice

When a deposit is collected through a proposal, it is showed in clients’ account as a credit. It can be applied to invoices either automatically or manually .